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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. club — for dancing
  4. mine — for digging
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. rash — a series
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. cell — a phone
  10. club — a group
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. lie — to recline
  13. cell — in biology
  14. press — to push
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. press — a publisher
  17. clip — for paper
  18. press — newspapers
  19. clip — to cut
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. rash — hasty
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. clip — a video
  24. club — for golf

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com